Scrum vs Kanban: What Are the Differences with Comparison Table

Last Updated on December 3, 2024 by andrewshih

Scrum and Kanban are two highly popular Agile frameworks, but do you know their similarities and differences?

While they share common principles like transparency, prioritization, and continuous improvement, Scrum and Kanban differ significantly in their structure, workflow, and flexibility. Understanding these differences is essential for selecting the right framework for your team and project.

We will provide a quick overview of Scrum and Agile, the similarities, a detailed comparison of the differences, common misconceptions, and hybrid approaches.

What is Scrum?

Scrum is a structured Agile framework designed for teams working on complex projects. It organizes work into short, time-boxed iterations called sprints, typically lasting 1-4 weeks. Each sprint has a clear goal: to deliver a potentially shippable product increment.

Scrum thrives in environments where teams benefit from iterative development, regular feedback, and clearly defined roles.

Key Features of Scrum

1. Time-boxed sprints: Scrum divides work into fixed-length sprints. At the end of each sprint, teams deliver a specific, completed set of tasks or features, fostering predictability and focus.
2. Clearly defined roles:
   • Product Owner: Prioritizes tasks in the product backlog and ensures alignment with business goals.
   • Scrum Master: Facilitates the Scrum process, removes obstacles, and ensures adherence to Agile principles.
   • Development Team: A cross-functional group responsible for delivering the sprint goals.
3. Artifacts that drive focus:
   • Product Backlog: A dynamic list of prioritized tasks and features.
   • Sprint Backlog: The specific tasks pulled from the product backlog for the sprint.
   • Increment: The finished product or deliverable at the end of a sprint.
4. Regular meetings for alignment:
   • Sprint Planning: Defines the goals and tasks for the upcoming sprint.
   • Daily Stand-Up: A brief meeting where team members share progress and address challenges.
   • Sprint Review: A showcase of completed work to gather stakeholder feedback.
   • Retrospective: A session to reflect on the sprint and identify improvements for future work.

Real-World Example of Scrum

A software development team building a new app might use Scrum to manage feature releases.

In each sprint, they could focus on completing specific features like user authentication, search functionality, or payment integration. Regular sprint reviews allow stakeholders to test features and provide feedback for future iterations.

What is Kanban?

Kanban is a highly flexible Agile framework that focuses on optimizing workflow and improving efficiency.

Unlike Scrum, Kanban doesn’t rely on time-boxed iterations. Instead, tasks are visualized on a Kanban board and flow continuously across stages, such as To Do, In Progress, and Done. This allows teams to manage work dynamically without fixed-length cycles.

Key Features of Kanban

1. Continuous delivery: Kanban emphasizes delivering work as soon as it’s ready rather than waiting for the end of a sprint. This makes it ideal for teams managing ongoing or ad-hoc tasks.
2. Work-in-progress (WIP) limits: WIP limits are central to Kanban, restricting the number of tasks in progress at any given stage. This prevents overloading the team and ensures a steady flow of work.
3. Metrics for flow optimization:
   • Cycle Time: Measures the time it takes for a task to move from start to completion.
   • Lead Time: Tracks the time from when a task is requested to when it’s delivered.
4. Flexibility and simplicity: Kanban doesn’t prescribe predefined roles or rigid processes. Teams can add or reprioritize tasks at any time, making it highly adaptable to changing requirements.
5. Visual task tracking: Kanban boards provide a clear, real-time overview of task progress. Teams can customize columns to reflect their workflow, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Real-World Example of Kanban

A customer support team might use Kanban to manage incoming tickets. Tasks flow through columns such as “New Requests,” “In Progress,” and “Resolved,” with WIP limits ensuring agents handle a manageable number of tickets at once. This approach prioritizes efficiency and flexibility, allowing the team to adapt to fluctuating workloads.

Similarities Between Scrum and Kanban

While Scrum and Kanban differ in their structure, they share several foundational principles that align with Agile values:

• Transparency: Both frameworks emphasize visualizing work. Scrum uses sprint boards, while Kanban relies on Kanban boards to track progress.
• Prioritization: Teams focus on high-value tasks first, pulling work based on priority and capacity.
• Continuous improvement: Scrum achieves this through retrospectives, while Kanban relies on metrics like cycle time and ongoing workflow adjustments.
• Adaptability: Both frameworks allow teams to respond to change, whether through sprint adjustments in Scrum or real-time task management in Kanban.

Understanding these shared principles helps teams transition between the two frameworks or combine them for hybrid approaches.

Scrum vs Kanban Detailed Comparison

Here’s a closer look at the differences between Scrum and Kanban:

Scrum Board vs. Kanban Board

Both Scrum and Kanban emphasize visualizing work, and their boards are central to achieving this. However, the design, functionality, and usage of a Scrum board differ significantly from a Kanban board. Understanding these differences can help teams choose the right tool for their workflow.

What is a Scrum Board?

A Scrum Board is used to track tasks within a sprint. It provides a visual representation of the sprint backlog and helps teams monitor progress throughout the sprint cycle. Scrum boards are designed to reset at the start of each sprint, reflecting the time-boxed nature of Scrum.

Key Features of a Scrum Board:

1. Sprint-Specific: The Scrum board is exclusive to a single sprint. Once the sprint is completed, the board resets, and a new sprint backlog is created.
2. Columns Represent Workflow Stages: Typical columns include:
   • To Do: Tasks planned for the sprint but not yet started.
   • In Progress: Tasks currently being worked on.
   • Done: Completed tasks for the sprint.
3. Burndown Chart Integration: Many Scrum boards include or integrate with burndown charts to track the team’s progress against sprint goals.
4. Ownership of Tasks: Tasks are often assigned to specific team members, emphasizing accountability.

Scrum boards provide structure and focus, making them ideal for teams working within fixed timelines and defined deliverables.

What is a Kanban Board?

A Kanban Board is a flexible tool that visualizes the flow of tasks through a team’s workflow. Unlike Scrum boards, Kanban boards do not reset but evolve continuously as tasks move across stages.

Key Features of a Kanban Board:

1. Continuous Workflow: Kanban boards represent the team’s ongoing tasks and do not adhere to fixed cycles like sprints.
2. Customizable Columns: Workflow stages are tailored to the team’s needs. For example:
   • Backlog: Tasks waiting to be prioritized.
   • To Do: Tasks ready to start.
   • In Progress: Tasks actively being worked on.
   • QA/Testing: Tasks undergoing quality assurance checks.
   • Done: Completed tasks.
3. WIP Limits: Work-in-progress (WIP) limits are applied to columns to restrict the number of tasks being handled simultaneously. This prevents bottlenecks and ensures a steady workflow.
4. Metrics Tracking: Metrics such as cycle time and lead time are often tracked directly on the Kanban board to optimize flow.

Kanban boards are highly adaptable, making them suitable for teams with dynamic workflows or projects requiring frequent reprioritization.

Key Differences Between Scrum Board and Kanban Board

• Choose a Scrum Board: If your team works within time-boxed sprints, has clear deliverables, and benefits from a structured approach to task management.
• Choose a Kanban Board: If your team handles ongoing tasks, needs flexibility, or prioritizes optimizing task flow over adhering to fixed cycles.

Both boards provide transparency and accountability but are designed for different workflows. Selecting the right board depends on your team’s methodology, project type, and organizational goals.

Addressing Common Misconceptions

1. Scrum vs Kanban as Opposites: Many people assume you must choose one framework over the other, but they can complement each other. Teams can transition between them or blend them to suit their needs.
2. Scrum Is Always Better for Teams: While Scrum provides structure, it’s not always the best choice. For teams handling continuous or unpredictable workflows, Kanban offers the flexibility they need.
3. Kanban Is Only for Maintenance: While often associated with support teams, Kanban can work in any environment that values transparency and flow optimization, from creative agencies to manufacturing.

Choosing the Right Framework for Your Team

When to Choose Scrum:

• You need structured workflows with defined roles.
• Regular stakeholder feedback is essential.
• Your team thrives on deadlines and iterative progress.
• The project has clear deliverables that benefit from time-boxed development.

When to Choose Kanban:

• You require flexibility in task prioritization and timelines.
• Continuous delivery is more important than iterative delivery.
• You manage ongoing or support work with fluctuating priorities.
• Your team prefers minimal overhead and fewer formal meetings.

Guidance for Transitioning Between Scrum and Kanban

If your team is considering a shift from Scrum to Kanban (or vice versa), start small. Begin by introducing aspects of the new framework, such as WIP limits in a Scrum environment or sprint planning in Kanban. Gradually adjust workflows and team dynamics to ensure a smooth transition. Regularly review the impact of these changes through retrospectives or metrics analysis.

Scrum vs Kanban: Hybrid Approaches (Scrumban)

In practice, many teams may benefit from adopting a hybrid approach called Scrumban, which combines the structure of Scrum with the flexibility of Kanban. Scrumban leverages the best of both frameworks to balance predictability and adaptability. For example:

• Teams may use Scrum’s sprint planning and retrospectives for structured improvements.
• Kanban’s WIP limits and continuous flow principles can be applied within sprints to optimize task management.

Scrumban is particularly useful for teams transitioning between Scrum and Kanban or those managing both project-based and operational work.

Conclusion

Scrum and Kanban are both powerful Agile frameworks, but their differences make them better suited to different project types and team dynamics.

Scrum’s structured approach fosters accountability and iterative progress, while Kanban’s flexibility enables seamless task management and continuous delivery. Understanding their strengths and limitations can help you choose (or combine) the framework that best supports your team’s goals.

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